Ellen Wolfson Valladares
Argami Productions, LLC (2008)
ISBN 9780979832406
Reviewed by Ben Weldon (age 11) for Reader Views (9/08)
“Jonathan’s Journey to MountMiapu” by Ellen Wolfson Valladares is the story of ten-year-old Jonathan Goodman who, unlike most kids his age, is deathly afraid of the dark. After he hits a home run in baseball, two bullies soon pay him back by locking him in a dark drainage tunnel. Hovering in fear in the darkness, Jonathan is transported to the strange land of MountMiapu which is being threatened by an evil darkness. Will he be able to save MountMiapu and will he ever make it back to his home again?
MountMiapu is an idyllic paradise that resembles the Garden of Eden. It is a magical world where anyone or anything can exist. It is full of lush forests and many plants that have never been catalogued. There are delicious fruits and wild berries all over the place. But despite its beautiful appearance, MountMiapu is tormented by the Great Shadow, a strange cloud of darkness that is slowly covering it and threatens to overwhelm it. Wherever the darkness goes all the people, plants, and animals seem to vanish into thin air. The Great Shadow must be stopped, but how?
When Jonathan arrived in MountMiapu he was confused and scared. Soon he met Ariella who took him on a spectacular trip to her grandmother’s house. Grandmother Trudy gave Jonathan a relmometer. When he opened it, it showed earth time on one side and on the other how much of MountMiapu was covered in darkness. Jonathan was sent to the great teacher Cornelius and found out that he was a Child of Light and was “borrowed” by the people of MountMiapu to save them from the Great Shadow. Will he survive the danger and fear that the Great Shadow poses?
During Jonathan’s travels he came upon a little dwarf named Seebolt who offered to take Jonathan to a vortex (a concentrated area of energy that has a habit of transporting people places) that could take him back to his home. When Jonathan went to the “vortex” a giant tiger leaped out at him saying “I am Seebolt, ruler of the dark. I have been waiting for you, young one.” Will Jonathan escape the evil creature?
I would recommend this book to people who like fantasy and adventure. The moral of this story was to never give up. “Jonathan’s Journey to MountMiapu” by Ellen Wolfson Valladares was a good book, and I hope that everyone who reads it enjoys as much as I did.
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